Who is the best person to cold-call to get you a job in a company, the direct supervisor or CEO?

I would go for the CEO – they usually pass it on to the right person anyway, but you get the halo of their boss telling them to get it done. Good luck!

CEO is the better contact in smaller companies. Supervisor come and go as well – I’ve had a few setups where halfway through the conversation my potential hiring manager just left.

In my experience it strongly depends on what industry and firm size. AM teams tend to be smaller, so CEO might be a good bet especially in a small firm, but investment banking teams tend to be larger, in which case an MD might be a better bet. The best place to aim for is one level higher than your direct boss.

Just started a job last week where I contacted the CEO for a position, company has 150 employees. It works, but I agree that I can’t see it happening in a mega-huge company.